


At the end of a storm there's a golden sky

by JuliaBaggins



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Ragnarok, loki is hurt and thor comforts him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-30 12:02:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12653178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuliaBaggins/pseuds/JuliaBaggins
Summary: Another take on the hug scene, only that this time, Thor realizes that something is wrong with Loki.





	At the end of a storm there's a golden sky

**Author's Note:**

> I actually should have been writing a paper for my social psychology project, but instead this happened...

“I am here”, Loki said, and for a moment, Thor was unable to do anything but stare at him.

Could it be true, his brother actually being there, with him? Of course Thor had wished that he might be, like there always had been a lot of wishing involved when it came to Loki, but he hadn’t actually _believed_ it. And now, when Loki had proved to him that he wasn’t another illusion but really _there_ , when there was nothing that Thor wanted to do as much as wrap him into his arms, he didn’t find it in himself to move. 

Loki raised an eyebrow, as if he was asking what might have happened to that promised hug, and then, he took a cautious step in Thor’s direction. This was all it took for Thor, his legs listening to his commands again as he was with Loki in no time, hugging his brother close to his broad chest. Loki leaned into the hug, hiding his face in the crook of Thor’s neck. For a long time, none of them said a word. They were just standing there, listening to each other’s breathing. And this was enough, it was perfect, and it was all that Thor could have asked for. Until he opened his eye.

 

And in the corner of his eyesight, Thor noticed a flicker. 

_No_. This shouldn’t be happening, it could not. Loki _was_ there with him, he had caught that crystal stopper, hell, Thor could _feel_ him in his arms. He was certain that his brother wasn’t an illusion, but at the same time, Thor knew what he had seen, and this _was_ a flicker of magic. Slowly, he pulled away, until he could look into Loki’s eyes. And though his brother wore a mask of indifference, they had known each other long enough so Thor saw the hint of nervousness in his glance. 

“Loki?”, Thor asked, and noticed how his voice was nothing more than a whisper.

It might have been just his imagination, but Thor could have sworn that Loki’s hand, resting on his shoulder, grabbed his shirt a little tighter.

“Brother, what is it?”

Now, Loki was avoiding Thor’s glance, and this only had him worrying more. Something was definitely wrong.

“You _are_ actually here, are you?”

“I am here”, Loki said again, but this time, the words did nothing to reassure Thor.

“Then what is it? Please Loki, tell me what’s wrong.”

It was Thor’s _Please_ that did it, causing Loki to softly sigh and finally look into his brother’s eyes again. And there, he saw so many raw emotions; a storm of feelings nearly breaking lose with confusion, worry and fear. Maybe there also was something else, something like fondness, but right now, Loki couldn’t concentrate on that. Instead, he took a deep breath and dropped one of the layers of magic surrounding him.

 

Thor’s eye was fixed on Loki and he witnessed how for a moment, his brother’s whole image flickered again, like he was to disappear, and how he still stood right where he had been when the magic was gone. Only that he looked very different now.

During the battle against Hela, Thor hadn’t been able to always keep track of Loki; furthermore, he had no clue how exactly he had escaped the ruins of Asgard and gotten onto their spaceship. All Thor knew now was that somewhere along the way, Loki had gotten hurt. His face was paler than usual, nearly ashen now, and Thor could see splatters of blood, as well as bruises, on his skin. Some of them seemed to be older than the few hours it had been since the battle, and Thor caught himself worrying. 

Though his worry was not only about his brother’s health, no, not when it was quite clear that none of Loki’s injuries provided serious danger (and no, Thor wouldn’t think of this possibility, he forbade these thoughts, because it would have been unbearable to lose Loki again – not after everything they had gone through, and especially not now, with the way Loki had smiled at him when he had told him about actually being there, and with how it had felt like _home_ when they held each other).

What worried Thor was how Loki had been hiding his injuries. He wondered why Loki should be disguising this, especially around him, around his brother, pretending to be fine when he obviously wasn’t, but then, there was a look in his green eyes, just for a second, and a memory from their childhood hit Thor. The two of them had been playing with their – or, if he was honest, rather _Thor’s_ – friends, pretending to be warriors in glorious battles, and after a shove that had been a little too hard, Loki had fallen down to the ground. But without a second of hesitation, he had gotten back to his feet, and Thor hadn’t thought more of it. 

That was, until he had walked into Loki’s room in the evening, and saw his brother holding a bloodied knee between his hands, tiny sparks of green magic coming out of his fingers while the skin slowly began to heal. Of course, Thor had immediately been by his side, asking why Loki hadn’t said something earlier, told them that he was hurt. After angrily wiping at his puffy red eyes, his little brother had informed Thor that everything was perfectly alright, and that he wasn’t _weak._ It had been a rare moment of silence, of tenderness between them, when Thor had just put his arm around Loki’s shoulders and assured him that none of the others would see him as weak, and that they were his friends no matter what happened. And Loki was not convinced of that, of any of them considering him a _friend_ , but it didn’t matter, cause Thor cared, and whom else could he need?

 

Now, centuries later on a ship somewhere in the depths of space, Thor recognized some of the same vulnerability in his brother’s eyes, the same fear of somehow being considered as weak. And oh, how Thor wished that Loki could see how very far away from the truth that was. But, as it seemed as if he couldn’t see it himself, or as if he still feared for Thor to judge him, he decided to show Loki instead.

Slowly, Thor took half a step back, and Loki was not quite fast enough to hide the flinch it caused him to see his brother step away from him. But Thor didn’t take another step back, he didn’t turn away and left, no. He just looked at Loki, a smile on his lips and an expression in his face that consisted of nothing but pride and tenderness. Loki was confused, and this increased even more when Thor extended his hands to take Loki’s in his and look at them. His fingers were burnt, the knuckles bloodied, and he didn’t like to watch them, so just for a second, Loki closed his eyes. Said eyes fluttered open again with surprise when he felt how his hands were moved, and then, there was the sensation of Thor’s chapped lips carefully placing a kiss to each of his knuckles. All the while, Thor kept his gaze on Loki, who was watching him with wide eyes.

 

When Thor had finished kissing Loki’s hands, he moved closer once again, holding his brother’s hands in his between them, so they were resting above his heart. Then, with his eye closed, he leaned in, hoping that he had been reading the signs right, and when Thor felt Loki’s lips on his, he couldn’t help but smile into the kiss. For once, Loki didn’t complain about his brother’s sentimentality, and instead, he allowed him to kiss him gentler than Loki ever had been kissed, allowed him to caress all of his scratches and scars, to hold him in his arms while he gathered the strength for a little healing spell. 

And, at the end of the night, when they were laying in an oh so tight embrace, he allowed Thor to whisper things in his ear that none of them had ever expected to say out loud, truths they had held somewhere deep in their hearts for too long. When Thor had finished talking, Loki only said one sentence.

 

“I’ll stay with you”, he said, and he knew that Thor was aware of what it meant. 

_I love you too._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Nice comments would make my day ❤
> 
> Title from "You'll never walk alone"


End file.
